No Thank You? Top 5!

Easter has come and is in the air, right along with spring, new life, and beautiful weather.  But to be sure, it's not November, and it's not the season of Thanksgiving.  It seems only right that we take this time to reel in the energy and new life of spring.  We can save giving thanks for another season, once so many good things have come and are coming to a close that we are finally called to reflect and be thankful.

But we are told "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess 5:16-18).  

Let's not wait until Thanksgiving!  Instead, let us look around now, and see what God has done.  Spring IS full of new life, but it's also full of new projects, new teams, new leagues, new practice schedules, new celebrations and commencements, and new landscape and vacation plans.

All this newness, if we're not careful, will eat up our lives completely, and there will be few chances for gratitude in the midst of it.


So today, in the midst of new life and new energy and looking forward, I invite you to stop and be thankful with me, just as if it were Thanksgiving!  Make a list.  Write it down.  Share it with someone.  Lift it up to God!


Here's my list:

1. It has rained!  The ground is slowly being restored.
2. The Fusion retreat looked pretty awesome this weekend, and it is a beautiful thing to see young lives be touched by a living savior!
3. Many couples at Horizons have shared prayers of thanks for healing in their relationships after going to  the Weekend to Remember or the Art of Marriage class.
4. I made the deadline for tax season, although my records were pretty scrambled in the midst of moving, changing churches, getting married, and transitioning a house into a rental.
5. My best friend was married this weekend, and even though his father passed away just 8 months ago, there was much grace and love in the midst of this celebration.

Thank you God!  More to come!!

Jason <><

The Beauty of Doubt

Easter was just yesterday, and there was little doubt in the air that the resurrection is true and real for our lives!  It was beautiful.  But the irony is in how most of us arrive at this assurance.

If we have strong faith, and our relational life with Jesus is healthy, then, over time, it is true that doubt begins to fade and take a back seat to other more primary foundations of our faith.  We eventually DO begin to live more in a life of assurance concerning the unknown and "undiscernable."  This is a beautiful place for us to be!

Yet, on our way to this place in our faith, we must find a way to let doubt and uncertainty in our lives be an oar that steers and propels us rather than an anchor and an unwanted current.  Doubt can be a beautiful and helpful thing.

Yesterday, as a pastor and a person of faith, I had one of the most powerful resurrection and Easter Sundays.  As we joined together and celebrated something that we've been celebrating for thousands of years now, I was sure that we were also celebrating things that were being witnessed and revealed just as of NOW.  There was no doubt in my mind about the resurrection or the promise that Jesus' death and new life have the capacity and the promise to change the world and release us from our captivity.

This is partially because of what God has put in my heart.  When our hearts are open, longing, and yearning for truths that are beyond our own selves, and when we finally find that place of full humility, God's Spirit finally has the chance to enter into us and breathe those truths into us.

But this assurance also comes from careful and close watching for God's movement.  I've been at Horizons less than 10 months still, but in this short time, I've seen God, through Jesus, bring new life and resolution into so many situations that I can hardly conceive of what is going on!  It's easy to say to someone that even though God is ALL good, ALL loving, and ALL powerful, we may not see God bring redemption into our situations.  It IS true, and it is a sign of spiritual maturity when we can say this freely, not as an excuse or disclaimer, but instead of a profession of God's powerful mystery.

BUT, beyond this, we also need to find a place in our lives and faith where we can tell another story as well. That story, often an addition to the first, is that I also know that God is faithful and is FULLY CAPABLE of redeeming us and our situations, that before I resolve to take it into my own hands, I instinctively believe and trust that God WILL work and move in this situation.

Ultimately, it's dance of two rhythms:  knowing that God often works in ways that we cannot conceive, but also knowing that God works much more clearly and visibly when we are fully surrendering to the fact that regardless of what that work and movement looks like, God can and will be present.

And so we strive for this.  But how do we get there?  Luckily, the answer does not have to be 3 years in seminary and 5 in formal ministry.  Instead, I find that much of the road that leads to this is paved with patches of helpful doubt.  Not necessarily rejecting doubt, but doubt that reveals the heart that acknowledges its spiritual infancy and tenderness.  This is that kind of doubt that draws us closer to our redeemer:  God, I'm wrestling with this, and most of the fibers of my heart tell me this can't or won't change or come true.  God takes that kind of doubt and embraces it.  Thank you, now let's go from there, and I'll gradually show you that you CAN trust in what I have for you, for your life, for my glory.

So here's to doubt!  Breathe it in, give it to God, and see how it begins to transform you.


More to come!


Jason <><

Wishing, Not Missing

Yesterday's worship and Palm Sunday celebration was one of those that everyone seemed glad to have witnessed.  But as always, there were some who missed.  Life has a way of doing this.  In fact, surveys report that the average churchgoer now attends once every 3 weeks.  I get this.  I sometimes wonder what my attendance at church would look like for my wife and me if it weren't quite so "mandatory."  I'm SURE it would still be high (ideally!).

But what struck me the most about this Sunday was how many came up to me after each service and said they wished someone they knew would've been there.  "It was exactly what [he/she] needed to hear...  It would've made such a difference for [her/him]...  It was as if you were speaking directly to [him/her]..."

That's an awesome remark to hear repeated on a Sunday morning.  Of course, it makes a pastor feel good when he finds that he knows where his people are at in their lives.  But what's far more powerful is knowing how present God is in the ministry at Horizons!

It was truly by the Spirit's leading that we have embarked upon any of our sermon series journeys, and it was only by the Spirit's leading that this last sermon series "Growing through Failure" turned out the way it did.  In fact, the Holy Spirit and I did quite a bit of heavy wrestling before the path for this series became apparent to me.

And so ultimately, this is how I know that God is living and working miracles:  it was God who gives us the words to speak and the timing for sharing.  God looked over the life of Horizons, examined the hearts of those to be reached through Horizons, and then breathed the necessary words, guidance, and instruction into this ministry.  In other words, GOD IS WORKING IN TREMENDOUS WAYS at Horizons!

It's exciting and oftentimes overwhelming.  God has chosen to dwell among us!

So, the next time we think about church, about whether we should go, and about the guilt we have about not going, just remember this:  It's not really your attendance we're interested in, it's your heart.  You never know when God has crafted words to be spoken on a Sunday that were meant exactly for you--UNLESS of course, you're there!  So instead of wishing we were there, let us not miss those moments when God is speaking directly to us.

See you at this Friday's service and Easter Sunday!

More to come!


Jason <><

A "7" Becomes an "8!"

At the end of our marriage retreat, Sarah and I were both asked to rate separately the quality and strength of our marriage, giving a number value to "before" the retreat, and "after."  We found that even that little exercise gave us a chance for some revolutionary conversation--more which we'd been having ALL weekend.

The marriage retreat was the Family Life "Weekend to Remember (click for info)," which we have been sponsoring in conjunction with the Art of Marriage class at Horizons this spring.  Sarah and I selected the Omaha retreat and took this last weekend off to focus on each other.  It was fun, it was powerful, and it was challenging.  Ultimately, we're very glad we went!

At the end, we were each asked to fill out an evaluation and share our feedback.  It was on that sheet of paper that we were also asked to rate our before and after marriage status.  I had to respond to a phone call and missed what Sarah put on her review.  When I came in, the speakers had moved on to their final points, and Sarah had begun to take notes on the presentation again.  I got busy catching up and quickly filled out my review.  Little did I know that Sarah wasn't just peering over at me while I filled in my responses  to make sure I hurried through the feedback and didn't miss too much of the last material.  She was actually heavily invested in the numbers I'd put regarding our marriage.

I wasn't there when Sarah marked her 10 and 10.  And Sarah, having missed my initial marking, finally whispered, "what did you put for your numbers?!"  "7 and 8" I said.  Personally, I thought those were honest AND really great numbers!  Wow!  We're only 2 away from perfect!  For Sarah though, both of those numbers were a death sentence.  Really??  she said.

Luckily, it didn't take too long for me to realize that my numbers had turned Sarah's face a slightly brighter pink.  The difference between our ratings really affected her.  After some careful thought, I leaned over and assured her, I know we're great already, but I just don't want to think we're done growing and miss out on how much more beautiful God can make our marriage! 

Those words cleared up everything.  Sarah and I have been married nearly 9 months now.  It's been challenging and great!  But even at this retreat, we learned a ton.  We haven't been doing too much wrong so far, but we learned about things that we simply just hadn't been doing yet.  Things that will really help for our future.  Things that will take us far beyond even any 10 that we can imagine.

I was glad for Sarah's 10s, because she is the one who holds so much of our passion and energy.  And after a short moment, Sarah came to like my 7/8, because I hold so much of our realistic, practical energy.  One without the other could destroy a marriage, and so we learned once again, that only when truly together in our marriage will we be something that honors God!

So ultimately, I thank God for the 10 we have now.  But I also give thanks for our 8, because it gives us much room to grow--room for even greater gulps of God's perfecting love to enter into our relationship and lives!  Praise God!

More to come!

Jason <><

Practice is for Quitters

It has been a powerful season of learning and searching the heart in light of failure's presence in our lives.  Our time focused on failure will change us, because acknowledging and owning it is half the battle.  But sometimes it doesn't seem to work that way.

When I was an under-ripe, awkward third grader, I remember our PE teacher giving us a lesson before our activity time.  He was fresh out of college and clearly ready to coach us to our first Olympic trials.  I'll never forget what he told us that day.  It went like this:  "You need to quit practicing.  Practicing is for quitters.  If you just practice, you'll never actually get better.  From now on, the only thing you should do when you're getting ready to do something is perfect practice!  If you don't practice something perfectly, how can you EVER expect it to be perfect!?"

That was in third grade.

Later, this same PE teacher was moved up to a more appropriate grade level (middle school), and was given the position of assistant coach to the football team, which I was on.  I think I heard that same lesson another twenty or so times.  Because I'm an optimist, I let some of it sink in.  In some ways, he's right.  If we practice life as though we're going to fail, chances are, we will never move beyond the point of failed attempts.

But that was all I took from it.  It is good to be intentional, to live life with positive hopes of success, and to believe that we can overcome obstacles, especially when our faith is fully alive within us.  The rest of the lesson, however, I disagree with.  Our sermon series is ALL ABOUT failing and how we can learn to incorporate Jesus into the greatest depths and pain of our failures in a way that frees us and allows us to grow, regardless of our inadequacies.  How can we learn this and let it become a powerful truth and experience in our life if we never allow ourselves to fail and come to witness Jesus' redemption?

The reason why I ask this question is because in a conversation Sarah, my wife, and I were having last night about some upcoming events, I realized that both of us are absolutely terrified of failing.  We get what it means to fail in our minds, but we don't live like we're ready to fail and consequently grow in Christ.  We live as though we finally got to a good place and are going to do anything possible not to make any mistakes ever again!  I sense this about myself far more than I do with my wife, but to some degree it is true for both of us.

What I have learned from this realization though is that it's time to get messy.  So far in most things in my life, I've been playing it safe and playing hard to keep things on the exact right track--no deviations.  But the hard part is that I've already committed never to teach something on Sunday mornings that I won't agree to listen to myself.  At this point in our series, I'm not sure I've done a great job at that.  I'm still trying to keep on the safe side of failing.  I guess I've ultimately failed at failing more.  Apparently I took Coach H's advice far too near to my heart and forgot that failing during practice can teach us a ton about how it can be better in the future.

So, sorry Coach H, but I think I need to fail this one out.  But I'll see you on the field anyhow!  Here's to failing.  And here's to practicing in ways that allow us one day to QUIT making the same mistakes and move on into Christ's Joy!


More to come!

Jason <><

The Youth Stole It

For all who saw this Sunday's worship with the youth providing the message, a big "amen!" was the word of the day.  What happened Sunday was a rare and valuable thing.  The youth showed up and so did God!  CJ Ways rocked the G.O.S.P.E.L., Anna, Sydney, and Haley witnessed to the witnesses of others, and then the whole crew of 20 shared their testimonies, hearts, and "cards," inviting us to go to Jesus with our cards.

Yet, although it would be easy to continue lifting up the youth and the fabulous job they did, we all know that it goes way deeper.  It's (relatively) easy to get up on the platform and say good words that please and teach the listener.  But it's much more of a journey when the words shared are merely the tail ends of kites flying high in the sky.  The words, thoughts, and stories didn't simply come from the desire to say something good, but rather, they came freely on their own because of the experiences, heart changes, realizations, and growing relationships with Jesus that have come before. And it is those words that changed our hearts and lives as we heard them Sunday.

Essentially, all the youth had to do was find a way to share their experiences in a way that it would make sense and impact the rest of us.

And so, what we ultimately saw Sunday is the unmistakable evidence of God working in the hearts and lives of 20+ young lives at Horizons over the course of their time here, AND we saw the clear evidence of God working in all the hearts of the youth as they presented.  It might have been a strange thing for the youth to hear me remind them over and over again:  "This morning really has nothing to do with you!  THIS morning has only to do with the ways that God will speak through you."

But they got it.  There was no doubt.  And God spoke through each of them.  Essentially, the youth took the lessons that all of us are learning at Horizons, about letting God use and work through us, and they stole last Sunday from the world, from the shallow end of living, ultimately giving it all to God.  Amen!

All of this is made possible by Horizons' belief in the youth and the value of young people coming to Christ.  It is this belief that supports exceptional staff like Nicole Feather, who pours out her own heart and lets God freely work through here.  It is this belief that supports a facility that welcomes and stimulates the growth of young hearts into future faith leaders in our world.

Let us be thankful.  Amen!

More to come!


Jason <><

Ready or Not, Worship!

Worship by far is one of the most powerful things that we do at Horizons.  There is no other setting in which we gather in large numbers, all begin walking down the same path together, and find ourselves, at the end, completely enveloped by God's spirit, God's word, God's redemption, and God's new life for us.  Missing worship is like missing the soul's weekly feast.

Yet, I know, from experience and from visiting with others, that even when we DO attend worship, there are times when we still feel like we missed the worship.  Our minds are still cruising, thinking about work, the mad rush we had to make with the kids under-arm, the last exchange of words we had with our spouse or youth before rushing out of the car, the soccer schedule for the afternoon, the meal schedule, the dog, the neighbor's dog, the funny crease in the pastor's shirt, the overly "amped up" worshipers in front of you...  None of that magically goes away upon entering the building.

Furthermore, there are always those songs, messages, scripture texts, or series that we feel just aren't grabbing us.  Perhaps they don't make sense.  Perhaps we're not too fond of the particular focus or scripture, or we're feeling convicted.

Regardless of what combination of the above, the worship experience can be difficult to get into on Sunday mornings.

Although not one of us immune to worship interference, there are steps we can take to help us get ready for truly life-impacting worship:

1. Know ahead of time what the topic, title, and scripture is.  Every Monday, a preview is available on the website of the week to come including short thoughts and scripture.
2. Know the scripture.  Take time at some point during the week to read the scripture.  You'll know what to expect, and you'll also begin to see your own curiosities grow about what God has to say to you.  You may even want to write some thoughts down that will help you focus.
3. Get up a little before the kids (or simply earlier than what time normally leaves you rushing), and take a moment to wake up to the morning.  A prayer that I always find helpful, even as a pastor, is "God, this is YOUR day.  You know that I feel like I'm drowning in some parts of my life, but let me give all that to you today so that I can see how you wish to pull me out of the water."  
4. Pray as you enter the worship center that you can be fully present and that your worship will honor God.  Ultimately, although we believe that God clearly intended that part of worship be our learning and receiving new life for the day and week, we must remember that our worship is mostly about honoring, exalting, and glorifying God.  If we start there, with God first, we often find that God finds open places in our hearts to respond to our worship.  My prayer before worship is often similar to this, "Lord, let everything else in my life fall away today.  Right now, nothing else matters but who you are.  Let me remember who you are, witness what you have done, and celebrate what you wish to do with and in my life."  

Let these simple steps be the beginning of a whole new experience of worship for you.  Enjoy!

More to come!

Jason <><